


The Daring Young Man

by pariahsdream



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Scarlet Spider (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Flash Thompson/Peter Parker (Unrequited), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23785135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pariahsdream/pseuds/pariahsdream
Summary: He’s a beautiful boy from the circus. There are a lot of circuses now but back then, it had been the first that mattered. Circuses were where the extraordinary were both corralled and ogled. They were only there to be warnings and punishments and yet the performers still managed to capture the imagination. They seemed to soar above their marginalized existence, some of them literally.Like a beautiful boy that swung through the air on silver threads no bigger than a spider’s web.
Relationships: Kaine (Spider-Man)/Flash Thompson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	The Daring Young Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pommenade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pommenade/gifts).



Flash is ten when he meets the person that changes his life.

He’s a beautiful boy from the circus. There are a lot of circuses now but back then, it had been the first that mattered. Circuses were where the extraordinary were both corralled and ogled. They were only there to be warnings and punishments and yet the performers still managed to capture the imagination. They seemed to soar above their marginalized existence, some of them literally. 

Like a beautiful boy that swung through the air on silver threads no bigger than a spider’s web. He flips and careens through an obstacle course, lands on the tiniest of poles, one after the other until he’s balancing on a fingertip. He’s lighter than air and stronger than the biggest crocodile in the world- actually tossing the beast around and around before wrapping its maw with more of that glittery silver mesh. The boy laughs as he kisses danger on the mouth and Flash burns with hope and joy for the first time in his life. 

He finds the boy outside the tents, gathers his meager courage, and tells the boy that he’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen. The boy is bemused, eyes hidden behind a mask of blood red shot through with lines of silver webbing. 

“How do you do it?” He blurts out even though that was part of what made these circuses special, not knowing how the amazing and the unusual happened. 

“I have special powers,” the boy says and Flash believes him. How else could he fling himself through the air so effortlessly? 

“Really? That’s amazing! I’d give anything to be like you, your family must be so happy to have you,” he gushes, wanting to reach out and touch the other boy but scared too.

The boy shrugs as he walks along a fence post, balancing without care of tipping either way too far. “My family is the circus now. My aunt and I travel all over and we see so many things and I can watch out for her.”

Flash can picture it dimly in his mind- far off places that are golden and beautiful, not like the dreary, cramped tenements he lives in. A whole world outside of what he knows. “I’d give anything to see that.”

“Do you want to come with us?” he asks, cocking his head, looking a little like a bird perched and waiting. 

“Can I?” Flash’s heart is in his throat. All he’s ever wanted was to find an escape from his home, the cruel life that was waiting for him. 

“Gotta talk to Aunt May and the others but if you come back tonight, you can find out,” he offers like it’s the easiest thing in the world to save someone’s life. Maybe for him it is. 

“Thank you,” Flash surges forward and plants a kiss on his mouth. He tastes of cherry and sugary breading. It’s his first kiss and it’s beautiful. 

*****

Flash never makes that meeting. His father finds out about the pittance Flash had held back from his pay mucking stalls for the soldiers so he could see the circus. He beats him so badly by the time he wakes up the circus is long gone. The flame in his heart dims but refuses to die out however. Flash is a stubborn boy and a determined one. He believes the boy from the circus; that Flash might could find a place with him. 

So he waits. He works. He looks whenever a circus comes to town but it’s never the right one. Some are interesting, perhaps uncanny even. He even liked the one with the Boy on Fire and the Mountain Man. It was a shame that a man so fantastic and so smart at the same time could only use his talents to entertain rather than help. Flash could admire the regal way the Ghost Woman held herself in front of jeers and cheers alike. She was beyond the ordinary. 

He didn’t particularly care for the state-sponsored circuses. They lacked.... something, he couldn’t place his finger on what it was though. They were always changing acts, never letting anyone get to know the performers except for the core few- the Lost Soldier, the Man of Iron, the Queen of the Insectica. Flash had approached her once, hopeful, but she hadn’t known who he was looking for. 

“If he never joined one of our outfits, he really shouldn’t be performing without a license. It’s not safe for him or anyone else,” she says, regret in her warm eyes. She squeezes his fingers before she hurries away, gossamer wings leaving a trail of glitter in their wake. 

Maybe she’s right. Maybe the boy and his circus, smaller, more intimate, had been seized by the authorities. Some of the unauthorized ones were criminal fronts after all; there had been stories of hypnotic suggestions and entire audiences robbed at once. Even as Flash tries to reason with himself, his heart refuses to believe it. He knew what he saw that night so long ago. He had seen magic. He’d seen a hero. 

So he waits, patiently, for another chance. 

It doesn’t come before his father dies. That, in of itself, is no hardship; Harrison was a cruel man to the end and even though he could no longer physically hurt Flash anymore, he could still lash out at his mother and sister. He could still spew hatred like bile. He dies a wastrel in debt so deep, Flash feels the world close in around him. No matter how much work he does, no matter what he sacrifices, it’s never enough. 

Then men come knocking at the door one night. They are not the men you invite into your home but Flash didn’t even own the place so maybe it didn’t matter. He knew enough to recognize them - magicians or scientists, mad or otherwise- they were offering something that he could not get by any other means. A way out from his father’s debts and perhaps even a way to seek out his own dreams. All they needed was a body. A young, strong body capable of handling their experiment. 

He should’ve known better when he saw the bodies that hadn’t made it littering the floor of the laboratory. Flash stays because he gave his word and if he didn’t find some way out then he’d lose himself anyway. Better to do it of his own free will than bit by bit to debts he never wanted or earned. He cannot recall what happened precisely after then- just fragments. Sensations. The image of blacker than black and yet warm. Warm and slick- it suffocates him until it stops and holds him tight. Like an embrace.

Flash couldn’t remember the last time he’d been embraced. 

He could remember what happened after- blood in his mouth, new bodies strewn around and an unfamiliar face in the broken shards of glass all around him. He was a monster as surely as the Beast who quoted Shakespeare (Flash liked poetry certainly but he couldn’t do that). He still felt the same, inside where it mattered. He had thought it mattered to the people who loved him too but his mother screamed when she saw his new face at the door and howled for a savior. 

Flash was supposed to be the one to save them all. 

*****

He leaves that night. What else can he do? He’s lost the last tether he has in the world. The new... power he has keeps him warm and safe in dangerous places and he even learns how to hide in plain sight with his true face even if the body is no longer solely his own. The power comes with a voice, tender and deep, comforting in the back of his mind when he feels his lowest. They are bonded now and it helps. But he still craves human contact and connection so he seeks out caravans to travel with, time to time.

He helps when he can, where he can. He offers protection, even at the risk of being discovered. He cannot let the innocent be hurt while he hides what he can do now. He wonders if the people in the circuses feel this way. That their powers could do so much more than they were allowed to. Maybe some of the ones that aren’t legal are the ones that can. He spends idle nights fantasizing about circus performers that use the cover of their travels and their powers to aid the less fortunate. To reach out a hand to the downtrodden in all the big and small ways that matter the most. Flash tries to step in when he can, stopping fights here, preventing abuses when he is witness to, but there is so much in the world that is unkind that it seems impossible on his own. And very often he is - many don’t want him to stay or are relieved to see him go. He doesn’t always have to leave, but more often than not, he simply parts ways, too restless to stay, seeking something he doesn’t have a name for.

Time passes and one day he comes across a new caravan, one that looks different from the others. More colorful trailers, lots of reds, some more faded, some paired with streaks of blue. It excites him and even as tired as he is, he strides to them and out of the shadows. He can hear voices and movement, industrious labor and grunts of exertion and then he sees the tents. Circus tents.

They soar into the sky like he imagines castles do. They could be no more beautiful to his eyes, no more welcome to a weary soul. He can earn bread here at least, find somewhere to hide for a little while. 

“Who the fuck are you?”

Flash turns to see the silhouette of a tall, broad man with long curls hanging across half his face. His stance is one of easy power like a predator, long fingers curled into loose fists. Flash wishes he could see his eyes, see if he had made a mistake.

“It’s okay, we make a lot of mistakes too. He’s looking for Peter,” a bright voice pipes up seemingly from nowhere. Flash cranes his head up and sees a slender girl hovering upside down, legs crossed, a long braid dangling in the air. “He doesn’t know that he’s looking for Peter but he is. A long time too, we should let him know.”  
  
“Hush, Aracely,” the man growls out, voice low and rough. “If you don’t got business here, leave.”

“I was looking for a job. I hear circuses often need laborers,” Flash replies, glancing up at the girl again. She waves, all friendly sunshine to the man’s shadows and sternness. He still can’t see him very well despite the fact it is daylight. Somehow he seems to know where all the shadows are and how to keep to them. 

“-not hiring as far as I know but Ezekiel doesn’t tell us shit so I could be wrong. You want a job you talk to him,” the man spits out, turning and Flash catches a hint of deep tracks of scars over a shoulder before it’s covered by dark curls swinging forward to obscure everything of the man’s features.   
  
“Well, c’mon, that was an invitation in Kaine speak! C’mon, c’mon, there’s lots to do before the show,” Aracely drops down and grabs Flash’s hand, drawing him along. She chatters at him, dropping names like petals he’s meant to pick up and know how to assemble back into a whole flower. There’s something familiar about this circus even if he doesn’t recognize anyone- at first. Then he sees him.

The boy from his circus is here. This is who he’s been looking for. 

“Of course, weren’t you listening? Peter!” Aracely scolds him with a laugh and calls to the boy- no, he’s a man now. Proud and sure of himself, but there’s no recognition in his eyes when he comes over. Flash feels shame heat his face, wondering what he can say. If he can say anything at all. You gave me hope sounded like too much. I love you- how could he? He didn’t know his name until right now. 

“So we’ve met before?” Peter cocks his head, looking up at him with steady brown eyes. Sizing him up and Flash straightens his back, wanting to be found worthy more than he ever had in his life. “Glad you made it, finally. What took you so long?” he winks and Flash can’t help but laugh.

“That’s a bit of a story actually.”

*****

It shouldn’t be that simple and yet it is. He stays even without asking Ezekiel because apparently if Peter approved, everyone else simply accepted it. MJ latched onto him with a great big grin and a mischievous pair of eyes, saying that she can tell they’re going to be the best of friends. She’s both a performer and a scout, and he can see why, her beauty and vivacity an easy draw. Gwen isn’t as outrageous but shares MJ’s sentiment that Flash is a good addition as well. She isn’t a performer; she oversees their routes, helps with repairs and barters with the law. There is history there, he can see that but that doesn’t seem unusual in circuses. 

There are more performers than he remembers as a child; Peter is now part of a troop of acrobatic daredevils. A slender girl with black hair named Cindy who hates to be referred to by her stage name, the Bride. A white haired woman who steals smiles from everyone, among other things she’s not supposed to. And most startling another Peter. They all grin when Flash stares and stares until they admit that Ben is real and not a fairy tale illusion or mischief. 

It feels like home should. He feels welcome and wanted. 

Well, he can’t say that everyone was welcoming. Kaine, the man with the long hair, isn’t a performer and isn’t interested in befriending anyone, much less Flash. He seems to stick to guarding the tents and doing the hard labor of set up and break down. Despite the fact that it's supposed to be Flash’s job too, Kaine stays far away from him. The only one that seems to be tolerated at all is Aracely. She follows him around faithfully and never seems to mind that Kaine rarely contributes to her conversations. Flash catches her snoozing on Kaine’s back once, chin tucked into the crook of his neck. The glare he received for his trespass could’ve peeled paint. 

Flash tries not to think about it but one day he asks why Kaine refuses to eat with the rest of the troupe. 

Silence is his answer until Peter finally speaks. “Kaine-- he wasn’t always with us. He’d been used for evil and did evil himself.”

“He’s better,” Ben assures Flash but there’s something like pain in his eyes when they’re normally so laughing and playful. “But he feels very keenly.”

Flash knows what that’s like and he tries to reach out. He gets water for him and Kaine every break they take. Whenever they get fruit from the local towns, he makes sure to set some aside for him. Though apparently oranges were decidedly not welcome- Kaine had hurled a half eaten one at Ben’s head, face puckered up in an unhappy expression.

If there is anyone else Flash should devote himself to reaching out to it’s Peter. Surprisingly it’s harder to get time with him than Kaine. Peter is needed by everyone in the circus it seems. Everyone turns to him for support and he bears it with a strength that leaves Flash humbled. But it also shows him that for all his long-nursed love, Peter had little time for someone like him. If he could even compare to Gwen or MJ or Felicia, all so beautiful and offering so much more than he could. It’s enough to be near Peter, or so Flash tells himself. It’s enough to have his friendship and a home.

Even though part of him does wish to be out there too, by Peter’s side, in the lights, basking in the crowd’s adulation. Still he’s content to support the performers. He doesn’t complain and does his best to keep all their equipment in top notch shape. Even the high poles that they dive off of to the delight and terror of the crowds have to be watched for rot and weak points. He’s so used to shimmying up and down the poles that it doesn’t occur to him to wear anything to tether himself- which becomes a dire warning as the pole he’s under sways dangerously under his weight one evening. 

Flash is far above the ground and the safety nets have been tucked away for the night. He has seconds to think but his mind goes blank as the pole finally gives. It’s strange- he’s not afraid as he plummets. There’s something exhilarating about it really and pain is something he’s lived with as long as he can remember. It still would be a stupid way to die- but fortunate favors fools and innocents still. 

Before Flash can impact with the ground a large body hurtles itself towards him, tackling him midair. They tangle and roll over and over, bodies hitting a pile of hay far too hard but far softer than hitting the hard packed earth instead. Flash ends up on his back with a hand cradled in his hair and warm breath washing his face. He gets the tickling sensation of long hair against his cheek before Kaine is pulling away. 

“How did you do that?” Flash finds the familiar words coming out as he sits up, eyes wide. 

“Fuck off.” Kaine all but drops him in order to get away from Flash. He’s already moving away, like he can’t stand to look at him. 

“You’re like them, aren’t you? Peter and the others,” Flash guesses. Standing up gingerly, he follows after Kaine outside of the performance tent to the open air. The power inside of him is restless, either because of the near miss or the way Kaine’s broad back tenses. There’s no one around to see if Kaine murders him but Flash isn’t afraid.

“No, I’m not.”

“You’re stronger than you should be, you can move like you weigh nothing at all, you knew I was in danger almost before I did-” Flash ticks off one by one, stepping closer. He reaches for Kaine’s shoulder and in a blink of an eye, he’s shoved hard against the wall of a trailer, long fingers digging cruelly into his shoulders. The power in him goes hot with indignation and a desire to protect but Flash won’t let it come out. 

“You don’t know anything about me,” Kaine snarls. “You don’t even see me at all and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”

That curtain of long dark curls finally is pushed aside revealing a face both familiar and horrifically misshapen. Not only because of the damage done- rippled out like shattered glass- but the twisted bitter smile on Kaine’s lips. He seems to know the thoughts that are tumbling over in Flash’s head. 

“Haven’t you heard the warnings? Don’t look too long into a mirror lest it looks right back at you. That’s what I am,” he says. “A poor copy of a better man.” 

It is Peter’s face just like Ben’s is. No one ever told him that Ben wasn’t Peter’s twin, that there was another - that maybe even he and Kaine were something else entirely. He can remember his mother warning him of devils wearing enticing faces but that doesn’t seem like it fits Kaine at all, and not because of the damage. Flash clears his throat and reaches for Kaine’s cheek. Kaine has to let go of one of his shoulders to stop it from reaching him. “I don’t see that. I just see you.”

“You’re a shit liar, Flash.” 

“Ask Aracely if I’m lying.”

“....” Kaine is stubborn, so stubborn and Flash isn’t certain if it’s because he thinks he already knows the answer or is afraid of knowing it. Does he really think Flash thinks so little of him? 

“Will you tell me?” He asks, pinned still. Kaine’s eyes refuse to meet his but he lets go of Flash and draws back into himself. For as big of a man as he is, as big as Flash, he draws so tightly into himself, coiled like a spring.

“What’s there to tell? I’m a monster. I was created to be a monster and I am very good at it,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. 

Flash considers. He hadn’t mentioned his own past to the troupe, the part about the experiment and why he had to leave. They hadn’t asked, maybe because they all understand needing to escape. That makes his decision simple- and he lets the power out for the first time in a long time, flowing over him like water and there’s like a sigh in the back of his mind. It’s still as black as he remembers but it catches the light sometimes and has a sheen that he thinks is quite pretty. Still, he’s certain most others would take more notice of the inhuman quality of it and the staring white voids where his face would be. 

“I was created to be a monster too. But you and I both are choosing to do something else, aren’t we?” He sees the surprise on Kaine’s face - it isn’t so terrible to look at really - and Flash feels hope blooming in his chest when he doesn’t slink back to his shadows.

“...I want to,” Kaine acknowledges. “But I still feel the urges like before. To hurt.”

He’s known men that like to hurt but he doesn’t see that in Kaine. Flash can see how resolved he can be. He can see stubbornness and a temper but not cruelty. Moving closer, Flash offers a hand to him. It takes a long time before Kaine’s fists unclench and long fingers brush over his palm. Even with the blackness covering him, he can feel the tickle of sensation and the warmth of his skin. It feels good when their palms glance against each other and he wishes that Kaine would linger. He pulls away. 

“I found Aracely,” Kaine says quietly, leaning against the wall of the trailer. “When I was freed from my master and was running from... everything. She needed me.”

It’s said simply but the words matter deeply to him; Flash knows this because he knows what it feels like to be needed, too. He doesn’t know what Kaine did, maybe it was monstrous and cannot be forgiven but he can’t imagine how Kaine can be among this troupe of people and that still be true. 

“You didn’t have to stay,” Flash points out quietly. There’s no one around but it still feels far too exposing to speak above whispers. “You could’ve given her to Peter and the others to watch over, May loves her.”

Kaine shakes his head almost before Flash is finished. There’s a ghost of a smile on his face and Flash thinks it’s entirely unfair that he’s never seen such a sight before. “Even if we weren’t bonded.... I couldn’t. I’ll only go when she says so and not before.” He glances back at Flash and this time, he speaks first. “Does it hurt you? Is it you?”

Flash shakes his head. “No. I don’t know what it is but... we’ve bonded too, I suppose. It protects me, shields me when I need it to. I probably wouldn’t have even been hurt if you hadn’t caught me.” 

To his utter surprise, Kaine’s face turns a delicate shade of red all the way to his hairline. “I uh... I should go now. It’s late.”

Flash doesn’t get the words out to stop him and he can’t figure out why he feels disappointed. 

*****

That seems to be the end of their spontaneous intimacy for weeks. Flash tries to speak to Kaine but he’s better at disappearing than even Peter is. Aracely explains that he’s being “stupid about his heart and be patient okay, he’s not used to listening to it” which is odd but sounds like good advice regardless. Still, Flash can’t focus all his energies on waiting for Kaine to stop hiding, he has work to do and Gwen has warned them that the outer towns are even more lawless than the ones they’ve already been to so far. 

Though, surprisingly many of the towns they’ve been to have mysterious strangers stepping into dangerous situations to help out the less fortunate and to remove the corrupt and cruel from power. Flash is rather disappointed he’s never managed to catch a look at any of these people. It would be a honor to meet someone who did something worthwhile with their talents rather than hiding away in circuses. 

Their next stop is King’s Villa. The town is beautiful, pristine even, but the outskirts are filled with hundreds of people that look to be on their last legs. And the ones that don’t look like roving jackals in search of prey. 

“This is worse than last year,” MJ says, frowning in concern. 

“I don’t like it either but we still need to rest, just for the night and get resupplied,” Gwen replies, looking quite unhappy herself. 

They still need to stop regardless, for supplies and to make their bread. And Flash can’t help but feel that in the bad places, the good people there need joy more than anyone else. It could do so much for them for so little from themselves. 

Chores are divided up amongst them and Flash and Kaine both end up on supply detail, picking up the items they can’t make or barter for themselves. Kaine refuses to meet his eyes but does reach out to steady him when the crowd jostles him out of step. 

“This is not a good place. Nobody is happy,” Aracely insisted she come along and Flash wonders why. She’s very concerned about the people around them and how miserable they look. “They’re hungry. The Kingpin doesn’t like sharing his wealth at all.”

“Bad men rarely do,” Kaine replies, keeping a protective hand around her back. 

“Be careful saying that too loud. The wolves are always looking for a fight,” a voice tells them over his shoulder. Flash turns to see a young, dark-haired girl, around Aracely’s age, maybe a little older. She’s thin and has dark circles under exhausted eyes. She looks like a good wind could knock her over and her clothes are far too worn for the incoming winter. Flash shrugs out of his jacket and moves towards her with it.

“Hey, back off buddy, I’m not interested,” She snaps. 

“Wha- I was just-”

“I know what you were _just thinkin’_ pal and I’m not your girl, got it?” she growls at him, but Flash can see beyond the bravado that she’s really scared of him. Flash feels it like a gut punch and he wants to do something, anything, to reassure her that he’s not that man. 

“Flash, just leave her be. We have other things to deal with,” Kaine says roughly, frowning as he looks between the girl and Flash. It’s the most he’s spoken to Flash directly since that night but he can’t focus on it right now.

“Give me just a moment,” He urges before turning back to the girl who was already leaving. 

“Wait! We have-- I’m with a circus. See?” He offers her a flyer and a smile, gratified when she pauses and turns to him. “My name’s Flash.”

“Really?” She arches a brow, snorting. She tucks her short dark hair behind her ear before offering her hand. “I’m Andi.” Her expression dims and she thrusts the flyer back at his chest. “You should get outta here before you guys are roped into one of the Kingpin’s schemes. He uses anyone that has any sort of talent, even circus people. S’why they stopped coming here. If even one of his pack spots you... it’s all over.”

Flash is conflicted. This is a terrible place and Andi is a kid. She’s as old as he was when he first made plans to leave his own home but it doesn’t seem that she has the option to do even that much. He doesn’t know her from Adam and the circus only functions because everyone in it contributes, they don’t have the freedom to adopt every stray they meet. 

“I... thanks for the warning, kid,” Flash replies, feeling his stomach turn over. He tosses her his jacket, just to feel like he isn’t just ignoring all the wrongs he sees in front of his eyes. She catches it, surprised and slips into it. The material dwarfs her but she gives him a little half smile and wave. 

Turning away before he can go after her, he rejoins Kaine and Aracely.

“We can’t save them. All we can do is keep the troupe moving and stable,” Kaine addresses him first, as if he knows Flash’s thoughts. Maybe he does- his eyes rarely leave Aracely when she wanders ahead of them or flits from stall to stall. 

“It shouldn’t be like this. None of this is right,” Flash replies, frustrated and feeling weak. He’d felt like he finally found a purpose with the circus but seeing these people being harassed and bullied with no recourse... it just shows how little they do with their abilities. If they aren’t using them to help people in need, what good are they?

“No one said it is but you have to be realistic- what are you gonna do, go up to Kingpin himself and-” Kaine’s words are cut off abruptly when Aracely grabs at his arm.

“She’s got to get away from him-” The words tumble out desperately but she is already turning back around when Flash hears the angry shriek. 

“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” 

Andi is being backed up against a nearby wall by one of the earlier ‘jackals’ Flash had noticed when they first arrived. The man is well-fed, clothes new and unmarred, healthy and far larger and stronger than Andi. He’s clearly one of Kingpin’s lackeys, although clearly not one with better things to do than harass little girls. 

“Don’t be stupid,” Kaine growls at him, though his eyes are pinned on the scene as well.

“Who’d you steal this from, huh? Little thief!” the lackey sneers at Andi and Flash realizes it’s his jacket that the man is tugging at. He never thought it would cause her trouble, he’d just wanted to do something nice. Now it was going so very, very wrong.

“It’s mine! I didn’t steal nothing!” Andi retorts, smacking at the man’s hand to get him to release her. When that doesn’t work she bites him instead. 

“Lying little trouble-making -” The man grabs Andi by her hair and Flash is suddenly right there grabbing him instead. 

“Let her go. She’s not the troublemaker here, I am,” he says firmly.

“Flash, don’t! Just leave okay, I can handle myself!” She snaps, glancing around fearfully and cussing under her breath when she realizes that there’s nowhere to go.

“Hey, watch your lan-” He doesn’t get the warning out before the lackey throws a sucker punch to his jaw. Flash’s head is jerked to one side but he’s still standing as he turns back to him. It’s pretty clear the flunky is used to far less robust victims and seems honestly uncertain what to do now. Flash fixes that for him- grabbing two handfuls of his shirt and hurling him into a nearby pile of refuse. 

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Andi says, looking around fearfully as if she expects more bad guys to come crawling out of the shadows in retribution.

“Don’t be scared, we can protect you-” Flash starts to reassure when the man stumbles to a standing.

“You _really_ shouldn’t have done that,” he grins and pulls out a whistle from his jacket of all things. “You mess around in Kingpin’s town and the wolves will eat your faces off.”

He blows on the whistle but Flash hears nothing, puzzled by the smug smirk on the lackey’s face. Andi goes white as a sheet next to him and clutches at his arm. “Oh no.... oh god.”

“They’re coming,” Aracely says, eyes wide as saucers. “They’re baying for blood.”

“That’s right, you’re gonna regret-” the lackey’s words are cut off abruptly as Kaine cold-cocks him and kicks him aside. He’s glancing around with suspicious energy before he freezes in place, stunned. “Flash, behind-” 

Flash moves instinctively but it’s still not fast enough. He’s bowled over, slammed into so hard he half expected a runaway mine cart to be on top of him. What he sees is far worse. The monster is a wolf but a wolf that is twisted from its true form into something brutal and hulking, somewhere between man and animal.

“We feast tonight, sister,” one of them laughs, voice as raw as metal scraping against a rasp. Out of the corner of his eyes, Flash sees a second monster crawling down the side of the building next to them and landing with a heavy thud. 

Andi’s scream rips out of her and sends chills down his spine. It’s no longer about stopping some mere bully, these two are real monsters. Andi is being dragged away from him by the female of the pair, struggling with tears in her eyes. He can hear Kaine shouting and swearing nearby but the werewolf on him is too heavy, his teeth far too close to Flash’s neck for him to do anything but try to keep the monster at bay. He’s helpless. 

It’s like being eight years old again and feeling the animal heat of his father bearing down on him, landing punishing blows that he wanted with all the might in his tiny body to stop. He just wants it to _stop_. 

The power inside of him surges out, heated and roaring in his head. Instead of just the sleek black covering, there are tendrils extending angrily from all parts of his body, several wrapping around the werewolf’s throat and forcing him back, inch by inch. It’s enough that when the other werewolf is knocked into them, they both go tumbling over into a heap. Sitting up, Flash sees Kaine panting and grabbing his bloody arm.

He doesn’t pause to check on Flash, he immediately turns towards the girls. 

“Run, both of you- NOW!” Kaine thunders, shoving Aracely towards Andi. She starts, like a rabbit but then nods and grabs the other girl, despite Aracely demanding that Kaine hold on and not die yet. She’s crying and has to be pulled away by Andi. 

Flash turns from them, unable to look at the terror in their faces a moment longer. He can’t see a way out. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t waste your breath,” Kaine retorts, looking frustrated and desperate. Flash would be a little hurt except Kaine grabs his wrist, reeling him in until their chests collide. Then their lips meet next and Flash has no thoughts left. Just the sensation of warm, chapped lips pressing as much feeling into the connection as possible. It takes a moment or eternity and then Kaine is shoving him away.

“Sorry I’m not the right one but I just wanted - just once- ah fuck it,” He throws himself at the werewolves as they charge at them again. 

For all that he knows that Kaine is like Peter and Ben, he didn’t realize what that truly meant. He didn’t know that Kaine was powerful enough to trade blows with a monster and keep on his feet. Nor did he know that Kaine could walk on walks just as easily as he did the ground, which helped him escape punishing blows. He didn’t have the time to observe much more than that because he had his own wolf to contend with. 

His power was still doing its best to protect him from tearing claws and rending teeth but Flash wasn’t certain it could last forever. These monsters were huge and seemingly as tirelessly as they were pitiless. He attempted to rope the wolf in the dark tentacles again but the wolf leapt out of range, snapping at them. 

It’s a war of attrition between himself and the wolf. Where Kaine was up close and dirty with his own monster, Flash used the only avenue he could, keeping his wolf well at bay. It wasn’t easy and he was certain at any moment his defenses would fail him as he tired and teeth would sink deep into his throat. 

“Hey, mind if I step in?” A voice calls from above. It’s Peter but he’s not alone. Ben, Cindy and Felicia range above them and Flash feels hope flood his chest. They leap off the roof to join into the fight, pushing back the wolves inch by inch. It is quite the sight to see Ben, Peter and Kaine all three unleashing their strength all at once - it also apparently quite dangerous to nearby buildings as well.

That draws out more of the Kingpin’s men but it doesn’t matter in the end. With all of them fighting together, trusting in one another as they do, there’s no contest and no other outcome but their troupe being victorious. 

*****

Dawn is cresting by the time everything settled down. There are probably still things that would need to be settled of course- their fight had escalated to gaining Kingpin’s attention and ire but for now everything is quiet and Flash had time to think about everything that happened. Andi ended up coming back to the caravan with them and she's in Flash’s trailer, getting settled in for the night. If she stuck around, he’d probably need to plan to trade in for a larger one. Or maybe there could be another option... like bunking up with a girl near her age while Flash found other arrangements. 

That thought leads him away from his own trailer and instead heading across the camping grounds to another. He rapped lightly on the door and waited.

Kaine has showered off the blood and muck and even his hurt arm had (inexpert) bandaging. It's a relief to see him whole and alive and it gives Flash the courage to start the conversation.

“What did you mean back there? About not being the right one?”

Kaine’s expression flashes through panic (there’s nowhere to disappear to right now) then oddly to pain before it settles into something remote. “I’m not Peter. You came because of him, right?”

Flash nods. It’s true of course but it hadn’t been his whole purpose. He wanted to explore the world out beyond his home and find something good. When he glances back, Kaine is shutting the door between them and that’s the last thing he wants. “Wait!” 

“What for? I don’t want your fucking pity,” Kaine growls, hackles up, struggling with Flash over the door. Instead of continuing that fight, which he isn’t sure he’ll win before the door breaks, Flash grabs at Kaine’s arm instead, surprising him and pulling him out onto the grass. 

Kaine stumbles and cusses at him but Flash only chuckles. Reaching forward, he tucks an errant rope of curls behind his ear. “I don’t have any _fucking pity_ for you so that’s good. I like you, Kaine. And I think we could find out what else can grow from that.”

Kaine blinks, hope and suspicion warring on his face as clear as day. It’s a good face, one that Flash finds more and more appealing with every day. 

“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO KISS- Mmph!”

They both swivel around to see Aracely’s mouth covered by Andi. She looks resigned. “I’m only here under duress. Go do... whatever, I’ll keep her occupied, ok?” 

Kaine attempts to cover his flushed face but Flash laughs softly and catches his hand. As he draws it away, Flash plants a gentle kiss to his lips. “Well, it was a good suggestion, don’t you think?”

**Author's Note:**

> IDK guys. Blame a fondness for circus AUs and “Rewrite the Stars” on repeat. This was not supposed to be what it turned out to be but I guess that’s okay? The ‘fantasy AU’ part isn’t very obvious, more like a mood than a thought out setting (or maybe I’m not great at establishing settings).


End file.
